Reith watched as the rest of the adventurers arranged their materials on the cold floor.

The sun was going down a lot faster and time seemed to be speeding up. He rested his back on a tree and sat under it.

"There has to be a way to control my technique without being in a situation of life and death," he muttered to himself.

Looking at his hands, he remembered how his fingers had trembled and the memory made him frown.

"How would I save Reisa if I keep doing it this way?" He sighed and raised his head.

And then he was suddenly startled. The short girl was looking at him again with a deep frown.

"What do you want? You have been following me everywhere," Reith stated as he turned his gaze away from her.

The girl remained silent, but she kept her gaze fixed on him.

Getting frustrated by the attention this human was giving him, Reith stood up from his spot and walked away.

He would find a better place to cultivate and then work immensely on his control. It did not matter how hard it was.

Walking away, he moved through a bushy area and kept heading down.

He looked back and realised that no one was following him. Although the landscape was steep, he had a good grip. The sun had not gone down fully, so he was still able to see what was ahead of him.

Reith came to a stop and looked around. It was a calm, serene area if you ignored the noisy clicking sounds. The trees were thicker and taller along this path of the forest.

He looked back, wondering if anyone had followed him. There was no way anybody could. It meant they had to be very close to him, and anyone who chose that method would easily be noticed by him.

Reith could also get back if he wanted. He just had to switch on his Hana sight and follow the dense signal of Hana from the group of adventurers.

"I can practice here. Those trees would help out." Reith looked a little apologetic.

Releasing that technique meant he was going to be extra destructive.

"Lightning Whip Strike." Without wasting time, Reith released his technique and bright blue light exploded in his eyes.

Meanwhile, in the camp of adventurers, everyone had gathered around a large fire and were warming themselves.

Some had even learnt a skill to warm themselves using their Hana energy, and it was Minx who chose to teach them.

Quite a number of them did not have enough Hana to circulate around their bodies, so they resigned themselves to the warmth of the fire.

At that moment, a distant light blue flash appeared and someone caught sight of it.

"What is that?" The adventurer gasped. He pinched his friend. "Yo Ray, check out what I just saw."

"Pik, let me go. There is nothing there." Ray kicked his friend away and went back to circulating Hana around his body.

Was this how the outskirts had always been cold? In the early morning it was hot, and now it was so cold that they could not afford to sleep without something to control the temperature.

It was not just one fire camp, but three in different spaces.

Pik scoffed, and then he felt a dull thud under the earth. "Look again!" This time, he grabbed Ray's head and forcefully turned it.

"Pik, what the— Wow! Is that some sort of beast fight?" Ray gasped. There was no other explanation for the way the night sky was lit up by the blue light.

The dull thud came again and Pik pointed once more. The blue light appeared in another location.

"That must be a very strong clash. I hope they do not come close to the camp." Ray was worried.

He had tried his best to survive the last fight as a healer, so he did not want to get involved in another. One of the adventurers had died. Who would be next?

"You worry too much." Pik slapped Ray on the back. "Do not worry, you will get back to your wife and see your child." He grinned, and Ray only rolled his eyes. Where did he find such a carefree friend?

Meanwhile, Reith collapsed to the ground. Smoke from the trees lifted around him into the sky, and there were charred marks on the barks of the trees.

His Hana core was depleted, and although he had been firing the techniques, he could barely see a change. There was a hole in one of the trees and he gazed at it with a sad look.

"It is going to take me a while." He sighed, tiredness seeping out of his muscles. "What good is an SSS grade talent if I am going to work this hard?" Reith frowned and raised his hands.

There were injuries on his hands from when he had tried to force the energy back into his body. He had even tried taking a look at his Hana lines, just like he had done with Terra, but the lines surrounding him were calm and peaceful.

A bush rustled nearby and something jumped from it. Looking closer, Reith realised it was not a something.

It was a someone.

"You. What are you doing here?" It was the short girl.

The girl rolled her eyes at him and walked forward. Her steps were graceful and held no intent of harm.

So Reith relaxed his grip on his staff.

"I am here to help." Her voice was cool and her gaze was proud.

"You are the SSS boy, right? I expected better." She scoffed.

Reith stared at her with an expressionless gaze. He had heard that countless times, so what was new?

Seeing that Reith did not give her an answer, the girl slightly frowned, but she resumed her composure the next moment.

"My name is Milly."

Milly? Reith wondered who would give such a cute name to a girl this scary.

"Nice to meet you, Milly, and thank you for saving me then. My name is Reith." He gave her a nod of acknowledgement.

"I already know your name. And your problem is that you do not know how to control the power of your talent. It was never the power of the technique. It is your talent."

Reith frowned and rose to his feet. "What do you mean?"

Milly sighed and rolled her eyes. "I have no easy way to explain it to you. You focused on learning and fine-tuning the technique, but you forgot about streamlining the raw power of your talent."

Reith sighed. "This is going to be a long session, right?"

Milly sneered. "Long and painful."

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